'Avengers: Endgame’ cast on their costumes, stunts, and is it really the end?

Los Angeles — On a sunny Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, we met the Avengers on Planet Earth…in a five-star hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, to be specific.

The cast, composed of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Brie Larson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan and Danai Gurira as well as brother-directors Anthony and Joe Russo, sat with us and talked about the making of the Marvel movie, working with each other, the challenges, the future projects, among others.

“Avengers: Endgame” tells the story of the superheroes reassembling and working with their allies after half of all life in the universe was killed due to the actions of Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War.” Premiering in Los Angeles on April 22nd, the movie was filmed in Atlanta and New York.

Below are excerpts of our conversations with them:

Robert Downey, Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Did you know the ending before you started filming? 

Knowing Marvel, an ending is an ending until they tell you that was the faux ending. All of the major artists involved in this have been in dialogue with the filmmakers for some time and then it just kind of flowed naturally out of that. And also in the Marvel Universe, nothing is final because they have every trick in the book and every device that you can imagine.

So it's much less definitive than a non-Marvel Universe would be. At the same time, I mean it's funny, you know. I'm not crazy about any film that takes itself too seriously. It's particularly funny to me how these superhero movies get such a heavy — people get so invested and myself included. (laughs) So, there's room for a lot of levity in there too. That's probably the part that I'm looking forward to most.

Having played Tony Stark for all these years, is there any Stark trait that has stayed with you in your daily basis?

I think if anything, I feel like he is mature and has become less needing to be the center of attention and more interested in his fellows and that's certainly been a journey for me.

That is evidenced by the fact that, it would be so funny if all the Avengers actually the greatest acting job we'd ever done is pretending we all liked each other. But there's been this natural affinity with one another and, again more, it's that ability to make space for other people.

When Tony demonstrated in the first Avengers that he was willing to take one for the team, there was nothing he would have done previously. So, there's a bit of an evolution. It's not an evolution that's easy to compare to real life. But I like that as the movies, as years have gone by, he's taking himself a little less seriously.

Courtesy of Disney

Will we see you in non-superhero movies?

Yeah. I've heard it along the way. My missus and I did a film I was really proud of called "The Judge" and I've done some Sherlocks, and I've done some other forays.

The other thing is, I have a wide variety of interests. I'm a musician of sorts, and I like other art forms. But the downside — if there possibly could be one — of having this long-standing relationship with Marvel is that you can't have everything.

So there's certain things that I've put on hold for a while, that I'm really looking forward to getting back to. We had this family vacation and I know Oscar Isaac a little bit. He's fantastic. He started talking to me about stuff that I hadn't even thought about for ages, like "hey remember, you know in a Winter's Tale..." I was like, "oh yeah, Shakespeare!" (laughs)

We started talking about stuff we could do and I'd like to maybe find some of the actors, artists, actresses and folks who I like and maybe think about directing them in something because oh whatever, you know. It'd be fun to get on the other side of the camera maybe. Either that or I would hate it. I would just be like "oh my God, why don't we just turn the camera around on me? I'll show you how to do it" (laughs)

Can you take us back to your first meeting with the Russo brothers? What were your first impressions?

Yeah, two schmucks drove by in a golf cart (laughs) on their way somewhere and they were like, "hi, this is Joe and Anthony Russo" and I was probably, I was dressed in a blue tracksuit for Iron Man. Whatever I was doing, I was busy. I was like "yeah, yeah. How are you?"

I marked those moments and I look back now and I go, when you meet someone, you could be meeting someone who is central to your life. So what do they say, bow to the Deity in everyone you see? By the way it would have been weird if I said "I feel such a destiny with us." (laughs) But look you have to earn your keep around here.

Marvel doesn't welcome you into the club if you don't do your damn job. Do it very, very well. It was an amazing proving ground to watch them come in with “Winter Soldier” and then arguably one of the pivotal films has been “Civil War” where we are all of a sudden making this bigger thing and introducing my protégé, Tom Holland and all that stuff.

It's almost unimaginable how impactful they have been on the whole MCU in the last five years or so. Yeah but, that day, I was just like "What are these guys? They're f* TV guys? What, are we running out of directors?" It turns out they are about my favorite directors on earth.

Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

If, by any chance you get meet "Black Widow" in real life, what would you say to her?

I just feel like, you have killed people, many people.  (laughs)

I would probably say, gosh, how do you sleep at night, you must be really haunted by your past, we should talk about that more.  (laughs)

How was your first experience working with the Russo brothers like?

My first experience with the Russo brothers was on “Winter Soldier” and it was the first time I felt like, it was like a two-hander between Chris and I in some ways in that film. It felt like I had an opportunity to explore a lot. I had an opportunity to showcase the vulnerability of the character in that film for the first time really, in the few years I have worked for Marvel. It was interesting again.

Their approach and how they co-direct, Joe comes from an acting background, so he really thinks of things, his vocabulary is very familiar to me. And Anthony has a much more cerebral way of expressing himself and it’s always interesting when you work with two directors, because you get something out of the first person that you don’t get out of the other and they complement each other, I would say.

It was interesting to see the more pragmatic approach and then a more cerebral approach to things. I liked that. As the films went on, it became clearer what their different roles were going to be as they directed us thematically. So I feel like they have almost become more fluid together as the years have gone on.

Chris Hemsworth (Thor)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

How many times while filming this did you say, “I am getting too old for this?”

Never. I felt fitter than I had on any of them because we had matched fit and we had done the fighting styles and some of the characters so much. You develop a bit of an athleticism that becomes second nature and you are still updating that physicality.

Does anyone freak out when they see themselves or each other having to jump or die or do this and that?

I let my stunt guy do the stuff that is potentially life threatening. (laughs) You have a great team of stunt men and women who orchestrate these things into an instrument of precision and to ensure your safety. 

You get banged up still, like Jeremy said as he broke both his arms on the film just before coming up with this one. But I have been pretty fortunate in that sense. 

But yeah, it demands a huge amount of commitment and athleticism but it’s also part of the fun.

Once you have been a god. Can you let that go?

Demigod — he’s kind of a half god, so it’s probably a complex of not being a full god, that is probably the issue. I remember the first film to now, you still feel a combination of ridiculous and in Halloween dress-ups as well as excitement. 

But it mostly, until you sit there in the cinema and you watch and go, 'oh cool, we look pretty cool.' But on set, it feels mostly pretty silly. (laughs) So I haven’t had to battle with that thankfully.

What do you like and don’t like about your costume?

I don’t like mine because it’s difficult to go to the restroom and it’s incredibly hot, especially shooting in Atlanta and doing fight scenes. It takes 15 minutes to get on all the pieces of armor and so on. It looks impressive and it’s cool, but I can’t say that they are comfortable by any means.  But it also does so much work for you on screen and it’s nice.

Anthony Hopkins said that to me on “Thor” once. He said “look at these costumes, we need to not distract anything from what they have got going on and just stand there and say our lines and do less, because they do much work for us.”

I was under the impression that you came right out of high school and you did TV. So where did drama school come in?

I did a film while I was finishing school. It was about every Wednesday night and about an hour and a half from where I lived and check in there and so three hours every Wednesday night and then would ride back.

Then while I was on a TV show, I did a Saturday course at a drama school at NIDA, which is our big school where Cate Blanchett went and so on. But it was once a week and that was all great and beneficial and all of that, but I felt like I learned much just being on the job and the soap opera, “Home and Away,” I was on of all places. You get scripts that are not the best at times.  (laughs) If you can make that work, you can make anything work.

We have two that everyone cycles through at one point. But yeah, I learned so much from that experience and even got little glimpses of fame during that experience and how to navigate that. 

But the more you work— you can’t discount the onset experience. You can read as many books as you want in drama school and it’s all beneficial but the vast majority of your learning curve and knowledge is from just doing it.

Do you have a newfound respect for action stars?

If you can hold an audience on any stage, whether you are a sports player in basketball or you are in a cage in UFC or acting in a comedy or drama, there is a certain artistry to just holding people’s attention. I don’t know that one is more talented than the other. They are all just very different and people have their strengths and their weaknesses or whatever, but for me, performing on any platform is a valid skill set.

Brie Larson (Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

What are your thoughts on being the newbie here? Did you have any hesitations on taking on the role?

I had a lot of hesitations on taking on the role, because I am an introvert.  So the idea of putting myself on this global stage seemed like the completely antithesis of my nature. 

But Marvel was really wonderful and allowed me quite a bit of time to sit with it and process it and obviously I couldn’t talk with anybody about it. (laughs) So it just forced me to decide if this was something that I could handle and rise to the occasion and not just for myself but knowing that this was a really important position for someone to hold. If I didn’t feel like I could cut it, then I needed to let somebody else do it.

But I am so glad that I did. It’s been really rewarding for myself as a person to step up to the plate in this way and own myself in this new way... I shot this film before I shot “Captain Marvel” and I got to be welcomed with open arms to this huge universe because I stepped into this on a movie where it’s basically every franchise colliding.

We also had moments like the ten year anniversary photos where it was everybody in the room and that was some of my first days. I felt like I got to meet everybody and get the scope of it and feel the sense of love and support and camaraderie that was there before I went off and did the movie on my own.

We all know that with “Endgame,” Marvel’s universe is transitioning to a new phase. So what would you like to say to the next generation, the new generation of Avengers?

My hope would be that for whoever is up and coming next, that Marvel continues to explore representation and diversity in the way that they have done now, which has been really successful. 

So with that I would say own your truth and own who you are, because the thing that I love about this family is that we are all very different and we all hold different space and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what it’s like to be a human.

What do you like and don’t like about your costume?

I can’t really lift my arms up more than here (raises her arms), which is a problem, it’s very frustrating. It also takes me maybe 30 minutes and four people to be able to go to the bathroom. (laughs) So it trains your brain too when you are wearing that suit every day. 

Then I was on another job where I was just in jeans and a T-shirt and I remember being like uh, I have to go to the bathroom, and they were like, okay.  (laughs) It was like oh, this is actually jeans.

You don’t need a full security team, you don’t have to wear a cloak, you don’t have to have four people get in and out, but I do love the way that it looks and I love that I am completely covered. It allows me to be much protected because I did a lot of my own stunts, so a lot of the pads, a lot of the knee pads and stuff are pretty practical. It allowed me to hide more pads and things.

What do you do?

When I was hanging on the side of the train, it wasn’t until we went to do it that we realized that I couldn’t.  So we actually had to just cut into the arm holes, which is sad. (laughs)

So yeah, from there, they told me that on a first movie you end up working out a lot of the kinks, because you try your best but you can’t foresee what you are going to do in the movie and what the problems are going to be until you are living in it.

You get to learn about this whole other world and these craftsmen that have made these suits. Mine took at least 40 people to make, and it was 600 hours to make one.  You become very close with them, because there is always someone on set. It was actually Scarlett who taught me that basically there is like an auto body shop for your costume. So any problems that you have, they can just fix it. There was a lot of that going on set and stuff.

So you had all your preparation for acting performance in “Avengers” before “Captain Marvel”?

I was able to test out things on the “Avengers” set and I was able to start exploring it. For me, it felt like less pressure and now looking at it like this is the biggest movie ever, it should have felt more pressure. But to me, it was like okay, this whole movie isn’t on me, so this is my time to play and see how this thing works and also figure out tonally how things fit in, because it is more like theater than anything else that I have done. 

So you learn how everything is rolling and you just spend a lot of time asking questions, which is what I would do all day, is ask the other actors different questions about how this whole thing works so that by the time I was on my own, I was pretty well educated.

Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton / Hawkeye / Ronin)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Have you ever felt too old for these types of movies?

Never. I just broke both of my arms too and so they are on the mend.  But yeah, I am not too old for this s—.

How was it to be back in “Endgame”?

It doesn’t feel any different because we shot both movies together and they are all mixed and matched. I feel like we shot some stuff just a couple of months ago, with some additional photography and stuff, so I never feel like I left. It’s just how the story unfolds. So yeah, I can’t wait to see where it evolves in this next movie. I can’t wait, I am very excited for it.

What do you like and don’t like about your costume?

I like that it is easy to go to the restroom and most of them (other costumes) are very difficult. Truly, that is why I like it.  And why don’t I like it?  Because it’s easy to go to the bathroom.  (laughs)

Do you get as much satisfaction out of working on a film like “Wind River” as you do “Avengers”?

Maybe a different sense of satisfaction. I believe maybe a selfish, maybe it’s more self-gratifying on the day to shoot something like “Wind River.” But then to be a part of something and see it witness, you have to understand, this kind of filmmaking, is also a small city that it takes to make these kinds of movies.  I had to sit and witness, I remember seeing the first “Avengers,” remember seeing that for the first time, and I was like, wait, I am in this movie? 

The visual effects are such a huge part of this and so are the sets and editing and all the principal players of this are so important.  I get to be a fan and watch this and then be like I am in this thing, it’s weird.  Then I get even more artistic satisfaction in a way and I am like, it’s not the same. It’s different. I watch these movies. I am a fan of these movies. I just happen to be in it. It’s weird.

Are you still in the fixer upper house business?

My own home, fixing it up, yeah. I have been doing that with my brother. I have been doing that for a while. But I have been too busy being a daddy.

Do you have a newfound respect for action stars? Is it a different set of skills?

There is a physical part to it. I don’t know if you are referring to movies back in the '80s or whenever that is, but I don’t really have a judgment about an actor being good or bad or anything. 

But I certainly think there is a skill set that, since the Bourne movies and these types of thing, are very visceral and you can’t fake it and you don’t want to fake it, there’s a lot of money spent on movies to be submerged in a story.  When you see a bad edit or it was obviously not that guy that was fighting and you turn around the camera, it takes you out of the movie. That’s why I have always been keen on doing stunts and things like that. So action stuff, I think is quite important. The skill set is only just being physical and being athletic.

If you are an actor, you are an actor, good or bad, that’s just your perception of somebody else. The skill set would be an athlete of some sort, you got to be. Understanding that the limitations are the concepts of the filmmaking and knowing where the camera is and how far I can jump and what it actually looks like and I always, even on this movie, there are some things I had to do.

I even had to direct them, like no, I will do it, that’s fine, whatever it might be.  Because they don’t want to force you, come on go do that thing and you don’t expect the actors to do it, but I have to encourage them, like I will do it.  Can we do it a little better or a little farther, whatever it might be.

Karen Gillan (Nebula)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Did you have any special cool wire moment in the film?

That’s become normal hasn’t it? That’s like a staple for any Marvel movie, that you are going to be thrown off something, or flying through the air, and so it becomes really normal. And then you start to value these moments where you are talking in a room and it’s just a connection between people. But I did get to throw a few punches that I am pretty excited about.  (laughs)

And Karen, you didn’t go to school right?

No, I have never been to school in my life.  (laughs) I don’t remember the first day for primary school, but for high school, I was just really excited because I was like oh, I get to cater the curriculum to myself a little bit more, so I could just choose the artistic things and don’t have to do as many of the other things that my brain can’t do.

But I was so excited about going to school that I even wrote a song about it I remember on the last day of primary school. The teacher found the song and it was all about how I can’t wait to leave and get out of this classroom and she got really offended and threw it in the bin.  (laughs) I have never written a song since. (laughs)

Don Cheadle (James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Can you address the goodbyes?

I don’t know but no one has officially told me it’s a wrap. No one has officially told me to show up on set in a year or two.  So I don’t think we ever really know. 

What we understand is that this is a fluid universe and now obviously there’s a new part of the Marvel world that has been brought in now. Things can always cross pollinate and I don’t know where things are going to go and quite honestly, I am not being coy, I don’t know what’s happening.

Some people say that superhero franchises have killed movies for other actors. What do you think?

I read an article that touched on that, wondering if there was going to be any space. But again, this is one of those situations where we will see, time will tell, I don’t believe that this is the death toll for every other way that we are going to be telling stories. 

Obviously with what has happened in television and what has happened in Netflix space and Amazon space, there’s a lot of voices that are coming in and these movies are being released theatrically. That this clearly has carved out a space. 

But we are seeing a lot of companies because of that, because of this space focusing their attention on other kinds of stories. So there is going to be a lot more bandwidth for other voices to come in and different kinds of storytelling to be done and maybe if it is in reaction to that, then it’s a good thing and will create new space. It’s happening right now at the same time that this huge thing is happening.

What do you do during your downtime?

Lately, I have been sitting in my trailer and have been playing bass guitar a lot. I have been teaching myself the bass, so that’s been a lot of time. But I play dominoes and cards with my man Q who is sitting back there.

How was it working with the brother-directors?

They know where their lanes are and they know where their strengths are, each of them and they allow them that space. But they also aren’t territorial of anybody and if they want to step in, they have a little bickering like brothers do, which is nice to see. They are real, but it never stops the process and they are arguing towards the best outcome.

How were you in school?

Every emotion went into, as they do when your hormones are going and you are turning into a young adult and where you fit in all of that. I know that new school clothes were always a very big thing for me. The outfit the first day, like I am going to wear that shirt, those pants and those shoes, and God help you if something didn’t get washed or wasn’t right. It’s like this is my thing and I remember that somehow, that the first day of school clothes outfit had to be right.

Danai Gurira (Okoye)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

What was your cool moment in the film?

I will just talk to “Infinity,” because I can’t really talk about this one.  But “Infinity” was where I first got connected to “Infinity War” which is where we Wakandans first connected with the, we invited the wrong folks to dinner basically, and thanks for ruining our nation. No, we love them. But it was this kind of moment where it was these two worlds emerging. So I got there and the idea for my character, it was about taking in and it was for me as well, and that was interesting because I was talking in all these amazing, legendary Avengers, these iconic characters who were suddenly in our Wakanda set.

We were merging, and that was deeply surreal and my character was rightly cautious and why are we doing this?  But I was very giddy about it and the experience of anything that we got to do, I mean it was really interesting like oh flying and Falcon is flying overhead and you are standing there with Vision and Scarlett Witch and everybody is doing their thing. I got to of course work with Scarlett and learn how she works her weaponry.  So you are just seeing a whole other realm and it’s so different from Wakanda that you are now getting to merge with.  It was a pretty giddy feeling.  But my character was a little less ecstatic about it but I was thrilled.

What do you like and don’t like with your costume?

It’s restrictive, but it’s also beautiful material. It has a movement but it’s definitely not what you are used to.  So it takes a lot of getting used to and I loved how it looked.  Mine had many parts to it and I had parts on my arms and things.

You figure out things as you go so we figured out a way to clip it right here.  So in-between takes, I could take it off and it would just hang from my chest and I didn’t care what that looked like, I was quite happy to just to be able to get that release any time I needed it.  But at the same time I loved it, I loved how Ruth Carter did an amazing job and everything was specific to different parts of the continent and right down to the red and the beading and the way we had those skirts on at the same time and yeah, beautifully covered. It wasn’t like you are out there wearing close to nothing. You are wearing really well covered armor and so there’s so many beautiful things to it. I had a better time with the restroom. I didn’t need anyone to help me and I figured that out, but it took a while, (laughs) so it was a process.

Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

What would you advise the new generation of Avengers?

I don’t know what the future holds and we don’t really know anything more than what most people know. So anybody that, I am sure that there are always going to be new stories that are going to be told and new characters. I think they should be open to the experience and they will be, working with such an amazing company and a group of people. They should enjoy this ride, because it’s very exciting to be a part of.

Did you have any “wow” moment that was pretty cool in the film?

When I started with “Ant Man” I was working with amazing actors, but there was one moment where Falcon showed up and it was the first time I thought oh yeah, this is the MCU kind of showing up in our film. 

But in this, and I always go back to “Civil War,” it was the first time I took a look around and saw all of these superheroes that I had seen in the movies and that I had met just hanging around the soundstages and stuff or seeing around the offices. I was thinking oh my God, they were dressed up in their suits and I felt like a ten-year-old and all of a sudden it was very real in a way that even shooting “Ant Man” wasn’t, because I was looking at Captain America’s actual shield and I saw Winter Soldier’s actual arm and it was this sensation of joining, getting an invitation to a party that was a really cool invitation to get.

What do you like and don’t like about your costume?

One of the things that I didn’t like about my costume is that the leather and everything else makes it really hard if I have an itch on my back, (laughs) to scratch it.

This is what popped into my mind.  It’s not the only thing, but I remember having to go around to people and have them punch me in the back really hard to try and get rid of an itch and the kind of suit I had, I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do the wire.  It gets hot and we are sometimes shooting outside and so they don’t breathe very well.

But the thing I loved about it, I loved the way it looks and I am really fortunate because if I have one of the costumes where I need to, I can go to the bathroom.  There are magnets in the fly. We figured this out. The first “Ant Man” was buttons but there were magnets in the fly in the second one and that was, I think I lucked out there.  (laughs)

Anthony Russo (co-director)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

The franchise is getting bigger and bigger. Do you feel like sometimes you are running out of ideas or something?

We put every last idea we have into this one. We only agree to keep doing movies because we feel inspired to and that we feel that we have something still left to say and there's a place to take these characters and these stories. So yeah, I think sometimes it gets confusing with Marvel because you hear these stories about oh these actors have multiyear contracts or multi-movie contracts.

The reality of it is, nobody is going to make another movie unless there's a movie to be made. You know what I mean? Unless there's a creative idea pushing you into that movie. That's the way we've approached it every step of the way.

How was it working with your brother?

We had a director friend one time kind of observing on our set and he was sitting right behind us. After the day, he said, “It's so strange sitting behind you guys because like the conversations that you have with one another are like the inner monologue I have in my own brain when I'm directing, but you guys externalize it.” It was pretty funny.

Joe Russo (co-director)

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Do you feel like you are running out of ideas with this franchise?

That's why this is our last movie. Are we compelled to tell the story and do we think that there's something of value or there's some sort of inherent thematic value to it? It's very difficult, frankly, to do a trilogy of movies and have something to say. It's a very unique experience and only because we have the entire body of work prior to what we did to supply us with enough creative fuel to get us through for stories. — LA, GMA News